GoFundMe set up for father seriously injured while abroad for daughter’s wedding

A GoFundMe has been set up for a Kelowna man who suffered a life-changing injury while overseas.

The incident happened in January when Randy and Karen Lachmuth were enjoying a day at the beach while visiting Australia for their daughter’s wedding.

“During a regular outing to the beach, Randy incurred a serious spinal injury from being in the ocean,” reads the GoFundMe page set up by Sawchuk Crone.

“Once he was stabilized, he was brought back to Canada and has been healing at the Vancouver General Hospital, Spinal Cord Injury unit since February.”

The family has been incurring a major monthly cost to stay in Vancouver to be close to Randy and provide him with a support system during his recovery.

Randy will require several items to bring him home and provide daily mobility.

According to the GoFundMe, a customized wheelchair for Randy’s injury will be a minimum of $25,000, a transportation van will cost a minimum of $35,000 and a specific bed, lift and other instrumentation will be required.

“With Randy’s bound determination and insurmountable spirit, he is working his hardest to get to his second phase of rehabilitation at GF Strong despite his many daily challenges,” said Crone.

“The ultimate goal is to get Randy home in Kelowna, to his family and friends. He will be training these next several months for the biggest race of his life.”

The GoFundMe was started with the hope of taking some financial pressure off of Randy and his loved ones and the goal of making Randy's return to his home in Kelowna as comfortable as possible.

As of Wednesday, over $10,000 of the $55,000 goal has been raised within three days.